I knew I would be spending this Valentine’s day alone and had an itch to create something cute and assumed my coworkers needed a little sugar rush today.  I broke out my brand- spanking -new whoopie pie pan; a christmas gift from my mother (Thanks mom). While I was standing in the kitchen creaming butter and sugar my mind wandered.  I began thinking about the first time I attempted to create a cake in that kitchen.  It was 2009 and my new home was still quite the bachelor pad.  I asked for a mixing bowl and a 3 quart pot was handed to me, while Aaron explained that was all he had.   Oh how far we’ve come along, now I have 2 mixing bowls.

You may be curious to know, why would I be spending Valentine’s day alone?  Since work is hard to find, Aaron has been commuting to another city to work during the week and traveling back home for the weekends. This has been our routine since early November.   I am excited to say that we will close on a home this week and will no longer have to share Skype sessions in the evening. Yay!

Okay, back to the divine treats.  I adapted this filling recipe from Whoopie Pies.  I started with the basic butter cream recipe and Valentin-ed it up with some local Plant City Strawberries. The strawberries create the most perfectly pink filling for a dark chocolate cake.

Fresh Strawberry Butter-cream Filling

1 stick unsalted butter

4 cups confectioners sugar

1 cup fresh sliced strawberries

1 tblsp of heavy cream

Cream butter in mixing bowl add confectioners sugar and mix on medium until sugar mixture becomes crumbly.  Add 1 cup fresh sliced strawberries and mix on medium until strawberries becomes well blended.  If the mixture is stiffer than you’d like add the heavy cream.  This recipe won’t be exact for everyone.  When using fresh fruit the amount of liquid contained in the fruit will vary.  On the flip side if the mixture is thinner than you’d like add more confectioners sugar.

With all the pink goodness in honor of Valentine’s I was inspired to create an ombre Tissue Tassel Garland filled with the colors of love!

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